Greece as a path for freedom: Jose María Heredia's philhellenism

José María Heredia (1803-1839) publicó en 1823 el primer poema filoheleno escrito en español con firma de autor, en el que pone en paralelo la independencia de Grecia con la libertad que él deseaba para Cuba. Entre sus documentos personales se ha conservado parte de un libro con poemas filohelenos escritos en francés, en cuyos márgenes escribió las traducciones al español, pero la crítica no ha podido determinar aún ni el título ni el autor de ese libro. La identificación de ese poemario nos permitirá seguir los pasos del filohelenismo en el Caribe como lenguaje de rebelión y libertad.José María Heredia published in 1823 the first philhellenic Spanish poem with expressed name of author, which sets in parallel the independence of Greece and the freedom that he wanted for Cuba. His personal files preserve a damaged book with philhellenic poems in French and a Spanish translation written in the margins. Critics have as yet been unable to determine the title of the book and the author to which they belong. The identification of this collection of French poems will allow us to follow the steps of philhellenism in the Caribbean as a language of rebellion and freedom

España y Grecia, 1821-1823: El Mediterráneo como espacio de revolución y libertad

Tradicionalmente se ha considerado que la España del Trienio Liberal, sumida en sus propios problemas internos, permaneció al margen de la Revolución Griega y de la repercusión que este acontecimiento provocó en todo el espacio occidental dando lugar al fenómeno del filohelenismo. Dado que las primeras obras conocidas que en España tratan de la Revolución Griega comienzan a aparecer a partir de 1828, la investigación histórica y la crítica literaria ha aceptado sin discusión hasta el momento que el surgimiento del filohelenismo en España fue un fruto tardío de un romanticismo de imitación inspirado directamente en culturas como la británica o la francesa. Sin embargo, el estudio de la prensa como soporte de las distintas corrientes de la opinión pública que se desarrollaron en la España del Trienio, así como otras fuentes históricas de aquella época, revelan que el filohelenismo surgió en España de modo espontáneo en cuanto se recibieron las primeras noticias de la insurrección de Aléxandros Ipsilandis en los Principados del Danubio en marzo de 1821. El filohelenismo penetró de tal manera en todas las capas de la sociedad española de entonces que llegó a impactar en la realidad generando sucesos históricos rastreables documentalmente, como la misión diplomática de carácter ultrasecreto que el presidente del Gobierno Provisional Griego Aléxandros Mavrocordatos encomendó a su hombre de confianza Andreas Luriotis para que negociara un tratado de colaboración mutua con el Gobierno Español en el Madrid de 1822. Si España no se hubiera visto amenazada por los acuerdos que las Potencias de la Restauración absolutista firmaron en el Congreso de Verona en 1822 y la inminente invasión francesa de los Cien Mil Hijos de San Luis, que se verificó en 1823, y hubiera podido acceder a las peticiones de los griegos, la historia de la Revolución Griega se habría escrito de forma diferente a como la conocemos hoy

Filohelenismos hispánicos: lo griego como referente de autorrepresentación en los discursos ideológicos de España e Hispanoamérica, (1821-1824)

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Filología, leída el 16-09-2019Fac. de FilologíaTRUEunpu

Alternative splicing in serotonergic system: Implications in neuropsychiatric disorders

Background: The serotonergic system is a key component of physiological brain function and is essential for proper neurological activity. Numerous neuropsychiatric disorders are associated with deregulation of the serotonergic system. Accordingly, many pharmacological treatments are focused on modulation of this system. While providing a promising line of therapeutic moderation, these approaches may be complicated due to the presence of alternative splicing events for key genes in this pathway. Alternative splicing is a co-transcriptional process by which different mRNA transcripts can be produced from the same gene. These different isoforms may have diverse activities and functions, and their relative balance is often critical for the maintenance of homeostasis. Alternative splicing greatly increases the production of proteins, augmenting cell plasticity, and provides an important control point for regulation of gene expression. Aim: The objective of this narrative review is to discuss the potential impact of alternative splicing of different components of the serotonergic system and speculate on their involvement in several neuropsychiatric disorders. Conclusions: The specific role of each isoform in disease and their relative activities in the signalling pathways involved are yet to be determined. We need to gain a better understanding of the basis of alternative isoforms of the serotonergic system in order to fully understand their impact and be able to develop new effective pharmacological isoform-specific targets

Neurotransmitter Dysfunction in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Emerging Approaches for Management

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder whose aetiology is still unknown. Most hypotheses point out the gut-brain axis as a key factor for IBS. The axis is composed of different anatomic and functional structures intercommunicated through neurotransmitters. However, the implications of key neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, glutamate, GABA or acetylcholine in IBS are poorly studied. The aim of this review is to evaluate the current evidence about neurotransmitter dysfunction in IBS and explore the potential therapeutic approaches. IBS patients with altered colorectal motility show augmented norepinephrine and acetylcholine levels in plasma and an increased sensitivity of central serotonin receptors. A decrease of colonic mucosal serotonin transporter and a downregulation of α2 adrenoceptors are also correlated with visceral hypersensitivity and an increase of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid levels, enhanced expression of high affinity choline transporter and lower levels of GABA. Given these neurotransmitter dysfunctions, novel pharmacological approaches such as 5-HT3 receptor antagonists and 5-HT4 receptor agonists are being explored for IBS management, for their antiemetic and prokinetic effects. GABA-analogous medications are being considered to reduce visceral pain. Moreover, agonists and antagonists of muscarinic receptors are under clinical trials. Targeting neurotransmitter dysfunction could provide promising new approaches for IBS management

Crosstalk between intestinal serotonergic system and pattern recognition receptors on microbiota-gut-brain axis

Disruption of the microbiota–gut–brain axis results in a wide range of pathologies that are affected, from the brain to the intestine. Gut hormones released by enteroendocrine cells to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are important signaling molecules within this axis. In the search for the language that allows microbiota to communicate with the gut and the brain, serotonin seems to be the most important mediator. In recent years, serotonin has emerged as a key neurotransmitter in the gut–brain axis because it largely contributes to both GI and brain physiology. In addition, intestinal microbiota are crucial in serotonin signaling, which gives more relevance to the role of the serotonin as an important mediator in microbiota–host interactions. Despite the numerous investigations focused on the gut–brain axis and the pathologies associated, little is known regarding how serotonin can mediate in the microbiota–gut–brain axis. In this review, we will mainly discuss serotonergic system modulation by microbiota as a pathway of communication between intestinal microbes and the body on the microbiota–gut–brain axis, and we explore novel therapeutic approaches for GI diseases and mental disorders

Cognitive stimulation and cognitive results in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and Purpose The lack of cognitive activity accelerates age cognitive decline. Cognitive stimulation (CS) tries to enhance cognitive functioning. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of CS on cognitive outcomes (general cognitive functioning and specific cognitive domains) in older adults (aged 65 years or older, cognitively healthy participants, or with mild cognitive impairment, or dementia). Methods PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases were examined from inception to October 2021. A total of 1,997 studies were identified in these databases, and. 33 studies were finally included in the systematic review and the meta-analysis. Raw means and standard deviations were used for continuous outcomes. Publication bias was examined by Egger's Regression Test for Funnel Plot Asymmetry and the quality assessment tools from the National Institutes of Health. Results CS significantly improves general cognitive functioning (mean difference=MD = 1.536, 95%CI, 0.832 to 2.240), memory (MD = 0.365, 95%CI, 0.300 to 0.430), orientation (MD = 0.428, 95%CI, 0.306 to 0.550), praxis (MD = 0.278, 95%CI, 0.094 to 0.462) and calculation (MD = 0.228, 95%CI, 0.112 to 0.343). Conclusion CS seems to increase general cognitive functioning, memory, orientation, praxis, and calculation in older adults

Microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids as modulators of intestinal serotonin transporter

Serotonin is a key neuromodulator of intestinal physiology. Serotonin transporter (SERT) is responsible for serotonin uptake, modulating its availability and consequently, serotonergic signalling. Recently, microbiota has been described to affect intestinal homeostasis through microbiota recognition receptors (TLRs). In fact,TLRs activation seems to regulate intestinal serotonergic system. However, whether intestinal microbiota can modulate SERT by short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) is unknown. Microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate and butyrate, are important metabolites from non-digestible dietary fibers bacterial fermentation. These metabolites have been shown to maintain intestinal homeostasis through protecting epithelial barrier integrity, promoting IgA production and regulating T-cell differentiation. In this study human enterocyte-like Caco-2/TC7 cells were used as intestinal epithelial cells model, which expresses serotonin transporter. Caco-2/TC7 cells were treated for 24 h with different concentrations of acetate, propionate and butyrate and then, and 5-HT uptake was measured. SERT molecular expression was analysed by measuring both, mRNA levels by real-time PCR and protein expression by western blotting. Our results show that the treatment with SCFA modulates SERT function and expression, in a different way for each fatty acid. Consequently, a different production of SCFA by microbiota could differently modulate SERT and affect to serotonergic signalling and intestinal physiology. Our study contributes to growing evidence about the key role of microbiota on host physiology regulation, and it opens a cutting-edge opportunity of microbiota modulation to balance serotonergic signalling alterations

Cognitive stimulation and psychosocial results in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction Cognitive stimulation (CS) is a popular and cost-effective intervention, which applies different types of techniques focused on cognitive skills and can be administered by different professionals. CS can be defined as activities that involve cognitive processing usually conducted in a social context and often in a group. Therefore, CS can improve psychosocial functioning and quality of life (QoL), depression, anxiety and activities of daily living (ADLs) independent of the pharmacological treatment such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of CS on psychosocial outcomes in older adults (aged 65 years or over), with healthy cognitive ageing, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia. Methods PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases were examined from inception to October 2021. A total of 1,997 studies were initially identified in these databases. After discarding studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 30 studies were finally included in the systematic review and the meta-analysis performed with robust variance estimator (RVE) due the inclusion of studies with repeated measurements. The quality assessment tools from the National Institutes of Health were used to evaluate the quality of the studies. Results CS was significantly associated with a higher QoL in participants who received personalized/adapted CS (RVE = 0.11±0.19 [-0.76, 0.99], t(1.86) = 0.6, p = 0.61). . Conclusion Personalized/adapted CS seems to improve QoL in older adults